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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27188515">everyone is a little in love with strong gals</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlodobird/pseuds/chlodobird'>chlodobird</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Bets &amp; Wagers, Buff Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Canon Compliant, Competitive Alix Kubdel and Lê Chiến Kim, Gen, Strong Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tree Climbing, marinette could bench press kim without breaking a sweat, thats it, thats the fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 04:00:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,249</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27188515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlodobird/pseuds/chlodobird</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kim and Alix make a show out of their bets, and one day, Marinette needs some extra cash for fabric. Might as well join in, instead of cheering from the sidelines!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alya Césaire &amp; Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Lê Chiến Kim &amp; Alix Kubdel, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug &amp; Alix Kubdel, Max Kanté &amp; Alix Kubdel &amp; Lê Chiến Kim, Max Kanté &amp; Markov</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Miraculous LadyBug Stories</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>everyone is a little in love with strong gals</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“No way you can beat me,” Kim crowed.</p><p>Alix smirked in response. “Fucking <em> watch </em> me.”</p><p>The class gathered around the two athletes. “What are the stakes?” Alya called. She already had her phone out, ready to record.</p><p>“Loser gives the winner twenty euros,” Alix said in satisfaction. “He’s going down. Also, I made a side bet with Max that Kim breaks at least one branch.”</p><p>“Statistically, he’s unlikely to place his weight on a weak branch if he’s interested in winning.”</p><p>A flurry of last second betting took place, and Marinette skidded into view. “I got your text, Alya!” she panted. As soon as she recovered, she straightened up and asked, “What are they doing now?”</p><p>“Trying to see who can climb a tree faster.”</p><p>“That’s it?” Marinette said skeptically.</p><p>“It’s the tallest tree in the park!” Kim said defensively.</p><p>Alix nodded her agreement. “Think you could do it faster than us?” she asked skeptically.</p><p>She shrugged. “What does the winner get?”</p><p>“If you participate? Both losers give the winner twenty bucks.”</p><p>Marinette hummed to herself. She’d been saving up for some fabric she had her eye on, but-</p><p>“I’ll do it,” she decided. The class cheered, and Alix and Kim watched in surprise as the slim girl handed over her jacket and purse to Alya.</p><p>“Remember, you have to make it all the way to the top,” Max reminded them. “Markov flew up to the top earlier and placed a flag. You must grab it and climb all the way back down. You can only drop back down to the ground from the lowest branches; no jumping from higher ones to get down faster. The timer stops when you touch the ground with the flag in your hand.”</p><p>Kim snorted. “Let’s get to it!”</p><p>“Does anyone else want to throw their hat into the ring?” Marinette asked.</p><p>Only Nathaneal spoke up. “I used to climb trees to have a peaceful place to draw.” He cast an appraising look at the tree, but finally shook his head. “I’m not meant for speed though. Good luck!”</p><p>“I’ll go first,” Alix said with a grin. “A dumbass and an art nerd? It’s like taking candy from a baby.”</p><p>Max glanced at the others for any objection and got his timer ready. “On your mark . . . get set . . . go!”</p><p>Alix leapt into action, clambering up the tree trunk with relative ease. Her pink hair was easy to track, and she pulled herself up from branch to branch pretty quickly. As she climbed into territory with thinner branches, she slowed down a little, but not by much, barely taking the time to test branches before using them to push herself higher and higher.</p><p>“Got it!” she yelled triumphantly from above. The class cheered for her, and she made her way down even faster than she had climbed up. As soon as she touched the ground, Max called it. </p><p>“Excellent time! Fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds!”</p><p>“Who’s up next?” Alya called.</p><p>“I can go!” Marinette said casually.</p><p>Compared to Hawkmoth, this would be no problem.</p><p>“Ready . . . set . . . go!”</p><p>Marinette flew into the tree, hauling herself up like an akuma was behind her.</p><p>“Holy shit,” Alya said in awe. “That’s my girl!”</p><p>Marinette was already at the top by the seven minute mark, and by the time she hit the ground again, she was barely even out of breath.</p><p>“So how’d I do?”</p><p>“Eleven minutes and seven seconds,” Max stated. “Now, who’s-”</p><p>“I’ll go,” Kim interrupted. “If Marinette can beat Alix, so can I.” He missed the dirty looks Adrien and Alya sent his way.</p><p>Max started the timer, and Kim took a running leap. He climbed riskily, not bothering to check his weight on a branch before he propelled himself higher. Rose and Juleka exchanged worried whispers, and Mylene covered her eyes.</p><p>The gathered kids heard a distinct <em> snap! </em> and Alix cheered. “Suck on that, Max! You have to come with me next time I go to the gym!”</p><p>He looked like he bit into a lemon, but he nodded.</p><p>Kim finally touched down at sixteen minutes even, and from the look on his face, Marinette could tell he knew it. “Sorry, Kim, you’ll get the next one.”</p><p>The whole class turned to look at Marinette, and she turned bright red.</p><p>“Well done, Marinette,” Max said, his voice tinged with surprise. “I calculated there was only a twenty-one percent chance that you were athletic enough to beat Alix or Kim”</p><p>Marinette laughed nervously. “Thanks, but uh. You know me, haha. I’m clumsy! Just good with this one thing.”</p><p>“I bet not,” Alix said firmly. She swooped in and poked her arm. “You’ve got muscles, for fuck’s sake! Why don’t you ever take off your jacket? Show off your guns!”</p><p>She glanced around for Alya, and snatched her jacket back. “I carry a lot of flour for my parents!” Marinette said as she slipped her comfortable jacket back on.</p><p>Kim joined in, and after handing her the twenty euros (Alix quickly followed), he said confidently, “I dare you to a bench pressing contest. Whoever lifts more wins.”</p><p>Marinette eyed him dubiously.</p><p>“You could do it as a function of body weight,” Mass offered. “If Marinette can lift ten percent of her mass, Kimm would have to lift eleven percent.”</p><p>She grinned. Easy. “What are the stakes?”</p><p>“I win, you have to . . . give me something of my choice from the bakery every day for a month. If you win, I’ll buy the fabric for your next project,” Kim said with a grin.</p><p>“Deal.” She glanced at Alix. “You in?”</p><p>“Nah, I’ll let you two battle it out.”</p><p>Marinette shrugged, and Kim cracked his knuckles. “The gym’s still open. Let’s go.”</p><p>The whole group made their way to the gym, and once they finally arranged themselves in a semi circle around the bench, Marinette handed Alya her jacket and purse once more.</p><p>“Let’s do this,” she said.</p><p>Markov beeped for attention, and said, “The average athlete can bench press about one hundred percent of their body weight. You will start at 80 percent. You’ll each do five repetitions of that weight, and if you succeed, you’ll go up by ten percent.”</p><p>Marinette nodded, and Kim cracked his knuckles. “I’ll go first.”</p><p>He easily lifted eighty, ninety, then one hundred percent of their body weight, but as he neared one hundred and twenty percent, Kim began to struggle. Finally, at one hundred and thirty times his mass, he tapped out. “Your turn,” he said smugly.</p><p>She grinned, and laid down on the bench. As the plates on the bar kept stacking up, she kept going. In between rounds, she sat up and smiled at the looks on her classmates’ faces. Alya was torn between impressed and surprised, the others leaned towards outright shocked, and Alix just seemed glad she hadn’t taken the bet.</p><p>Finally, she began to slow down at around one hundred eighty percent, and finally tapped out at one ninety. “Don’t worry, my next project won’t need more than a few yards,” she told Kim happily.</p><p>There was a long silence, but Alya shrieked, “How did you do that?”</p><p>(When Marinette shyly glanced toward Adrien, he seemed to be rethinking his whole life.)</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Class Group Chat</b>
</p><p><b>Adrien:</b> hey Alya can you send the video you were taking?</p><p><b>Alix:</b> fuck yeah GIVE US BUFF MARINETTE</p><p><b>Alya:</b> if it’s what the people want</p><p><b>Alya: </b>here’s the link</p><p><b>Alya: </b>bamfmarinette.mp4</p><p><b>Juleka:</b> thanks alya!</p><p><strong>Kim:</strong> well played, marinette</p><p><strong>Marinette:</strong> &lt;3</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>and yes, towards the end Adrien is going "oh holy shit do i have a crush on Marinette???" What can I say, he has a type, and that's girls who could kill someone without breaking a sweat (big mood tho)<br/>anyway. stronk girls live in my head rent free. And yes, marinette is this buff WITHOUT magic. no side effects here, just good ol fashioned "fighting an akuma every other day tends to build muscle mass"<br/>This was just something fun I wanted to write. I left it as a wip like? four months ago? so I don't know how consistent the writing is, but I found it in my drafts folder and figured I might as well finish it off and get more buff marinette on ao3. be the change you want to see in the world.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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